Dengue virus serological markers among potential blood donors: an evidence of asymptomatic dengue virus transmission in Cameroon.

Introduction: the risk of dengue virus or its antibodies which can be transmitted through blood transfusion by asymptomatic individuals infected, has been a major concern all over the world. Dengue is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Cameroon. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of dengue virus (DENV) infection among potential blood donors at Yaounde Jamot Hospital.

Methods: serum samples were collected from 310 potential adult blood donors aged 18-57 years, who signed a written informed consent and completed the questionnaire between March 2019 and August 2019. This serum is used to screen for the presence of serological markers of DENV infection (NS1, IgM and IgG) using immunochromatographic tests (Zhuhai Encode Medical Engineering Co., Ltd, China). IgM/IgG positive samples were confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).

Results: the overall prevalence was 24.8% among potential blood donors were subdivided as follows: 4.5% (14/310), 12.3% (38/310) and 6.1% (19/310) showed mono-positivity to DENV-NS1 antigen, anti-DENV IgM and anti-DENV IgG antibodies respectively. 1.9% (6/310) of potential blood donors showed dual positivity to anti-DENV IgM antibodies and anti-DENV IgG antibodies. The presence of DENV-NS1 antigen show asymptomatic viremia of dengue at the time of donation, while the presence of IgG antibodies reflects the high endemicity of dengue disease in the city of Yaoundé.

Conclusion: these findings demonstrate the high level of risk of the DENV transmission among potential blood donors to needy recipients, underscoring the importance of establishing dengue fever blood screening in different services and blood collection units in Cameroon to improve safety transfusion and control the dissemination of the DENV.